The last 12 months were again difficult for the camera industry as it contended with the various fallout effects of the Covid-19 pandemic particularly parts and staff shortages that resulted in serious supply chain issues for most manufacturers. In many ways then, the winners in this year's TIPA World Awards - especially those who collected multiple accolades - are an indication of who coped best with the circumstances and were still able to come up with worthy products.
As we've noted on a number of occasions recently, the supply chain issues saw a shift more towards higher-end cameras which are not only important flag bearers for a brand, but also deliver greater profits. The list of heavy-hitter mirrorless cameras that arrived during the period of eligibility for this year's TIPA World Awards is a long one - Canon EOS R7 and R6 Mark II, Fujifilm X-H2 and X-H2s, plus the X-T5, Sony A7R V and Panasonic Lumix S5II. It wasn't until Canon unveiled the EOS R50 and R8 in early February that we saw a return to more affordability. Of course, over the last few years there has been a conscious shift in the market to higher value cameras as a way of offering more compelling alternatives to the ever more photographically-capable smartphone. Whether this is an effective strategy remains to be seen, but it seems unlikely we will ever see truly budget-priced digital cameras again, especially fixed-lens compacts (with the exception of the few ruggedised 'tough' models which continue to sell well). However, there's still a need for a cohesive and convincing advertising campaign to sell the many virtues of a 'real' camera compared to a smartphone, which is perhaps something that TIPA, with its global membership, could consider initiating.
Whatever the issues, we were still treated to a veritable smorgasbord of lenses throughout the period of eligibility, again presenting a challenge to TIPA's Technical Committee - of which I am a member when it came to narrowing down a very long list of appealing candidates to those most likely to win an award. Tellingly, there is a total of 11 lens categories in this year's Awards, an indication of how the mirrorless camera market is rapidly maturing with expanding lens systems that are increasingly including many more specialist optics (macros, supertelephotos, etc.), as well as upgrades of earlier models that deliver further improvements to performance and capabilities.
Traditionally, the TIPA World Awards has always comprised 40 categories, but this year it was initially felt that this should be pared down partially to serve as a sign of the times, but also to avoid simply ticking boxes because we thought had to. However, as Technical Committee discussions and debates continued, we soon found ourselves back at 40 categories which, if nothing else, is an encouraging sign that market recovery is well under way. As always, the Awards categories are tweaked and tuned to reflect the changes happening in the industry and so, this year, there are some brand new entries while other category titles have been changed to adopt the usage of new terms and descriptors… particularly in the video world where, for example, "vlogging" and being a "content creator” are now common things. However, the core categories for cameras, lenses, monitors, imaging software and lighting are constants.
For the first time in three years, the TIPA members were able to meet in person for the judging, which took place in the Spanish city of Barcelona. Due to a family matter, I was unable to attend, which was a real pity because beyond the to-and-fro of the voting sessions, the interaction with the editors of photo magazines from all around the world is always stimulating and educational.
The period of eligibility for the 2023 awards was from 1 May, 2022 to 30 April, 2023 with the key provisos that everything has to be available to buy in most markets by the closing date, and have been tested by one or more member magazines. In terms of the latter,TIPA partnersfully independent evaluations of a product's performance in many areas. Of course, we also have our own in-house product testing - as do many of the TIPA member magazines - to further guide us in the process of selecting worthy Award winners.
